Sunday, 27 April 2014

It's time for me to blow away the cobwebs and chase the tumbleweed out of this blog after a brief period of inactivity! Work has been busy over the past few weeks and real life has got in the way of blogging somewhat, but fortunately it hasn't got in the way of my reading. I wanted to have a little catch-up this evening and let you all know what has been keeping me busy in April.

Unusually for me, I seem to have three books on the go at the same time! From The Fatherland, With Loveby Ryu Murakami is an epic tale of an alternative, almost dystopian near-future in which Japan is invaded by North Korean forces, resisted only by a feisty band of punkish rebels. I am really, really enjoying it so far but it is certainly a book that requires patience and attention. It reminds me in many ways of David Foster Wallace's magnum opus, Infinite Jest - and I mean this in the best possible way, despite the fact that longtime readers of this blog might remember that I never actually managed to finish that one. This seems much more easy-going, though, and I am certain that I will ultimately finish it and enjoy it.

Needing a break from the concentration that From The Fatherland, With Love deserves, I picked up the Kindle looking for something a bit lighter. My usual go-to literary palate cleanser is a fast-paced thriller. With that in mind, I started reading I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes...not realising that it's 703 pages long. I was wondering why it seemed to be taking me forever to rack up the percentage progress points! I think that is one thing I'll never get used to about e-readers.

And finally, Trish's post on her blog a few weeks ago persuaded me to take my first steps into a world I never thought I'd enter...the world of audiobooks! I honestly never expected that audiobooks would be for me, but decided to give them a try and see if I can make more use out of my daily commute and listen in the car. I've started with A Game Of Thrones by George R.R. Martin to see what all the buzz is about, because it's a series that intrigues me but has never interested me enough to have made the time to read such a colossal volume in print. So far I'm really enjoying Roy Dotrice's work in voicing the huge number of characters in Winterfell. An added bonus is the discovery that listening to an audiobook really seems to distract me from my internal road rage during rush hour hell, and leads to my arrival at work in a serene and unflustered frame of mind. Score!

As if these hefty tomes were not enough to be getting on with, I have a backlog of reviews to catch up on, and quite a few exciting items of bookish post that have dropped through the door in recent weeks.

I hope you've all had a wonderful April - let me know how you're getting on and what literary delights you've been enjoying this month.